1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the art of plate or wing-type earth or ground anchors driven lengthwise into the ground and pulled when reaching an optimum depth to tilt into a flat transverse position for anchoring guy rods, cables or the like. Specifically the invention relates to rigid plate ground anchors with a longitudinal drive rod receiving socket having a round concave bottom for tiltable mating impact engagement with a round convex end of a drive rod, wings radiating from the socket, a star point chisel or drill leg leading end projecting forwardly from the wings, a raised longitudinally extending rib or ridge on the front face of the plate diverging from the trailing end of the leg to an eye hole with a sharp leading end and having recessed flat side faces straddled by a shackle or the looped end of a cable tiltable in the hole, a sharpened trailing end on the wings and socket and an extended curved lip on the socket to facilitate tilting of the anchor.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Heretofore known plate-type or wing-type ground anchors with drive rod sockets have had wide leading ends which are easily deflected when encountering hard ground layers or obstructions thereby causing the plate to tilt or cock relative to the driving rod. The sockets of such anchors have flat bottoms impacted by flat ends of the driving rods. Any cocking of the anchor from the on-line driving path not only increases the energy needed for advancing the anchor, but also misaligns the bottom of the socket with the driving end of the drive rod to minimize the area of contact causing an off center impact to further shift the anchor from its on-line driving course. The limited impact area soon causes the end of the drive rod to flatten or "mushroom" and bind in the socket preventing its withdrawal.
Further, the raised rib or ridge required for the eye hole of prior known plate or wing-type ground anchors has presented a wide blunt obstruction impeding piercing of the earth during the driving operation and further increasing the required driving energy.
It would therefore be an improvement in this art to avoid or minimize the above mentioned deficiencies of the prior known ground anchors.
Specifically it would be an improvement in this art to provide wing or plate-type ground anchors with axially extended chisel or star drill leading ends beyond the plate or wings to facilitate on-line driving of the anchor into the ground and to conserve driving energy.
It would be a further specific improvement in this art to provide round bottom sockets in ground anchors to be impacted by round-ended driving rods to insure full area impact zones and to maintain the anchor on the desired driving line.
A still further specific improvement in this art would be to provide the eye ridge of plate or wing-type socket equipped anchors with a sharp leading edge and recessed side faces at the eye hole to facilitate piercing of the ground and free swinging of a shackle or looped end of a cable in the eye hole.